More information : (NY 5383 2890) BROCAVVM ROMAN FORT (R) (1)
The Fort was about 120 yards wide and 180 yards long, assuming the S moat of the Castle to be roughly on the line of the Roman N ditch. The N quarter of the Fort is practically obliterated and the remainder of the ramparts are badly robbed. Slight traces of the bank remain and there are indications that it was formerly revetted externally by a stone wall, the removal of which has exaggerated the width of the berm. A single ditch is visible but there are no traces of internal buildings. Pottery found in clearing the S moat of the Castle dates from 2nd- late 4th C, mostly the latter. (2)
Collingwood suggests there may have been a smaller 1st c fort on this site. (3)
Details of Roman altars and fragments of inscriptions found. (4)
Re-surveyed at 1:2500. The remains of the Fort are well defined. (5)
The Roman fort, centred at NY 5382 2889, adjacent to Brougham Castle and identified as BROCAVUM (6a), was surveyed in 1990-1 by RCHME at 1:500 scale. Birley (6b) has documented the archaeological history of the site since the time of Leland in the early 16th century; no formal excavations are known to have taken place at the fort, and such disturbance that can be seen appears to be a result of robbing or random digging.
The defences on the S, W and E sides of the fort survive as a turf covered bank, up to 0.9m high externally and 0.7m high internally, which is separated by a berm from a spread ditch, 10-13m wide and up to 1.4m deep. No stonework is visible, but a distinct robber trench marks the line of the wall, which was probably robbed to build the adjacent Brougham Castle. The earthworks on the W side are the best preserved, whilst those on the east are more spread and mutilated. Between the fort and the castle to the N, there is a rectangular enclosure, which can be identified as a garden created in the mid-late 17th century (see NY 52 NW 86). The S boundary of this enclosure occupies faint traces of a bank, from 8m to 10m wide and up to 0.3m high, with a barely discernable, linear depression, up to 0.2m deep on the N side. If, as seems likely, this is the line of the N rampart of the fort, then it would have measured about 125m N-S by 110m E-W. The W gate of the fort can be identified as a break in the bank, now 13m wide; the opposing position on the E side is occupied by a metalled track, now grassed over, and no trace of a gate can be seen. The S gate is no longer visible, but its location, central to the S side is inferred by a road discernible on the RCHME AP transcription, from that point. There are no causeways across the ditch at the entrance positions. Full survey information, including a report, is held in the NMR archive. (6)
Additional references. (7-8) |